Senior Backend Engineer

At Acorns we look after the financial best interest of the up-and-coming.  We are innovators. We make bold decisions. We stay curious, inspiring one another to push past all previous thresholds of possibility.  We are one team and are building a diverse community of team members, partners, and customers from all walks of life to foster creativity, challenge conventional thinking, and put the tools of wealth-making in everyone’s hands. 

We are looking for missionaries who are rooted in purpose, to join our team. We can achieve our goals if we are a team of missionaries working toward a shared purpose and mission. 

Our mission? With benevolence and courage, we look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming; beginning with the empowering, proud step of micro-investing.

How do we accomplish our mission? Our values. 

Lead With Heart 

With compassion, integrity, and tenacity, inspire yourself and others to move past all previous thresholds of possibility

Make Bold Decisions

We are creating a new world. Be optimistic, adventurous, and courageous. Leap fearlessly into the future

Always Build Trust

Say what you mean, mean what you say, and do what you say you’re going to do. We are all owners. We are one team

Never Stop Growing

Change IS the constant. Stay hungry and curious. Be relentless in the pursuit of progress

Find a way

Never settle, no excuses, nothing is impossible. Just make it happen

Our values guide us, and our mission drives us. 

Come join us and help deliver financial wellness for the whole family, creating compound growth at every life stage.

Sr. Software Engineer - Backend | Acorns

Acorns is seeking experienced software engineers for our Retention team who have a passion for building robust, scalable, software and systems for customer focused financial and educational products, love learning new technologies on the job, think creatively to solve complex problems, and enjoy working collaboratively.
The Retention team is responsible for building and supporting highly reliable and scalable services that support user engagement and financial education for millions of customers. We are a highly autonomous team that promotes an operational centric, customer first culture.

As an engineer on the Retention team, you will be responsible for making operational improvements to existing services while building new services that provide unique experiences for Acorns customers. You will be expected to take an active role in helping to define the evolution of these services and lead other teams to maintain healthy operations. We like to learn and are curious about new technologies that will help us build better services. Our current stack includes: GraphQL, Kotlin, Ruby on Rails, DynamoDB, Lambda, ECS and an array of other AWS services.

This role has the option to be remote or based in our Irvine, CA, or New York, NY offices.

Within 1 month, you will:

• Familiarize yourself with our team’s services which includes learning the architecture as well as the technical decisions chosen
• Start shadowing our Production on-call rotation
• Complete Acorns’ best-in-class onboarding, Acorns’ Seedling Program
• Participate in a virtual coffee session hosted by Acorns’ CEO, Noah Kerner
• Attend your first community-wide virtual all-hands meeting

Within 3 months, you will:

• Work with manager and team to identify and established improved processes including PR reviews, deployments and testing
• Contribute towards our team’s ongoing CI/CD practices which includes at-will deployments
• Review your 30-60-90 day goals and accomplishments with your manager
• Engage in Acorn’s Community & Heritage celebrations
• Receive operational updates from our GoHenry & PixPay team members during Acorns’ quarterly global virtual all-hands session

Within 6 months, you will:

• Participate and contribute to the new architecture restructuring of our Milestones system
• Learn more about the other teams in our org (Growth) as well as the technical projects they’re working on in order to increase your influence and exposure as a senior engineer
• Complete a Performance Development Check-in to align on Performance and Values Rating Trends

What you will bring to Acorns:

• 6-10+ years of relevant experience building and supporting production software
• Expertise with SQL and/or NoSQL databases
• Experience leading API design and implementation (REST/GraphQL)
• Strong understanding of object-oriented and functional programming paradigms
• Expertise in a major, dynamically typed, programming language
• Strong understanding of algorithms, time complexity, data structures and design patterns
• Strong track record of good software engineering practices such as code reviews, deep focus on quality and documentation
• Thirst for delivering game-changing products
• Exceptional drive and precision in delivery
• A belief that your work is tied to your life's mission
• Optimistic about the potential of societal change

You are not expected to have experience with all listed requirements. If you feel passionately about Acorns' mission, vision and values, please apply.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and stock options
• A comprehensive benefits package to meet the needs of you and your family
• Flexible work hours, location, and paid time off 
• 401k discretionary match
• Monthly Acorns account contribution & GoHenry account for your family
• Wellness Days - Company-wide quarterly days off to rest + recharge
• Mindfulness, Mental Health, and Financial Wellness resources: Headspace, Ginger, and Addition Wealth are offered at no cost to you
• Acorns Career Development Program (Monthly Acorns to Oaks training sessions, development plans, quarterly development check-ins, Cornerstone’s online training platform)
• Roots Leadership Program for emerging leaders
• Monthly community celebrations, events, panel discussions, and speakers
• Talented and motivated team members who care deeply about one another, our mission, and our customers.
• The rare opportunity to create a new world. We inspire one another every day to do meaningful work that solves big societal challenges.

About Acorns:

Mission:

With benevolence and courage, we look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming; beginning with the empowering step of micro-investing.

Values:

1. Lead with heart
2. Make bold decisions
3. Always build trust
4. Never stop growing
5. Find a way

Commitment to a diverse community: 

Acorns is committed to building a diverse community of customers, partners, and team members. We believe that fostering diversity not only fuels creativity, but also challenges conventional thinking and helps us properly represent the unique experience of the everyday consumer that we serve.

Compensation Information:

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $180,026 and $211,795/year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a sign-on bonus, equity grants, and discretionary cash bonus awards in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.